Lombok & the Gilli Islands

Whilst in Indonesia I took myself off to Lombok for a few days to chill out away from the hustle and bustle of Bali. Lombok is a beautiful island, that I suppose is what Bali looked like about 20 years ago. It is the same size as Bali but with only about a fraction of the population living there. I stayed in one of the supposedly tourist resorts called Sengiggi, but it was far from touristy by Bali standards, but it was nice to get a bit of piece and quiet for a night.

I then went over to the Gilli Islands which are only a short boat ride away and stayed on the largest island, Gilli Trawangan. Although they call it 'Party Island', it is far from that. There are a few bars and restaurants down one side of the island, but the island is very small and you could walk around the whole of it in a couple of hours. No transport is allowed on the island apart from the traditional Cidomo's which are basically horse and carts. I did a spot of diving and snorkelling whilst I was there which was good to get a bit of practice in etc, but the currents were quite strong which affected the visibility, and also I didn't realise but the coral is in the process of recovering, as a lot of it was killed a few years ago through sun damage where it has lost it's colour, global warming etc. All in all a very beautiful and stunning island that I would recommend to anyone wanting a few days away from it all.

Dec 8, 2004

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